Pillock Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 At 6pm on Tuesday, I bought a Seat Leon TDI with 140k on the clock, full service history, after a good testdrive. At 7.30am on Wednesday, I was stood by the side of the road waiting for the AA, thinking long and hard about white smoke and grinding noises. At 5.30pm the same Wednesday, I was discussing with the garage my different options for how to get the turbo replaced since it had eaten itself in a right royal fashion. Fuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompei Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Jeez, that must be the modern equivalent of sawdust in the gearbox. Good luck in getting it sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 What a shitter!, It's always a gamble buying a higher mileage car, Sadly it sounds like the odds were against you this time. Is the car under warranty?, Most garages do a 3 month parts and labour warranty in which i think the turbo is included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreepingJesus Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Ouch! Bad luck there. Is the turbo properly lunched? Like impeller/compressor vanes buried in the housing/snapped shaft? I used to know a bloke who could resurrect even apparently scrap ones. I doubt he's alone in that skill.Failing that, there must be loads of them in the scrappies. At least it isn't an obscure car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Yeah, but the polish guy in Lincoln didn't offer any sort of warranty.I know, it's my own risk - I'm not even sure he pulled a fast one, since I don't know of any way that a turbo can be rigged to last long enough to survive a test drive but die 30 miles later. Maybe it's just my bad luck. It was cheap enough that even with the £450 bill it doesn't make it overpriced, but still..... I'm just gonna bite the bullet and get it done properly, get it refurbished with a warranty. Knowing my luck this week, a scrapyard turbo will be just as bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leonard Hatred Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Is 140k high mileage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Not really for a ten year old car! It's pretty much average, low even for a diesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I wouldn't call it high mileage but it's not exactly low neither, My 2002 Bora has done 125k which seems to be putting people of buying it (that and the fact it's due a cambelt). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukas Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I would call 140.000 miles/225.000km a high mileage, especially for an average car that has been driven by an average driver. A car that´s only been driven at long-distances by a driver who knows that it´s not good to rev it high with cold engine and that the turbo has to cool down before stopping the engine, this may not be high. A modern TSI-engine in a VW will not last 100.000 miles in average hands, but a 4,2 n/a diesel LandCruiser HZJ7 or an old Mercedes-Benz 300D may only be run it at this mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket88 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 140k on a Vag tdi is bugger all.[if it's PD] We've got an 2002 Octavia 1.9tdi, 2115k miles, still in rude health, and it's an auto, on it's original box, which by all expert opinion should have exploded eons ago. Regular oil changes,[engine and gearbox ] don't cane it when it's cold, and let it idle a bit after a "spirited" run, and they'll last forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayne Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 140k on a Vag tdi is bugger all.[if it's PD] We've got an 2002 Octavia 1.9tdi, 2115k miles, 2,115,000 miles?That's impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket88 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 140k on a Vag tdi is bugger all.[if it's PD] We've got an 2002 Octavia 1.9tdi, 2115k miles, 2,115,000 miles?That's impressive. Ahem, slight exageration 215k............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 140,000 to a modern should be sod all. P-lock: was he a private seller or a trader and have you called him to tell him it's gone a bit Pete Tong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselnutjob Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 what exactly is the white smoke? is it oil burning?it does sound like pure bad luck rather than a dodgy selleris it a PD engine, or the old rotary pump (90bhp and 110bhp)?and does it have the variable geometry turbo? sometimes the vanes can stick on those but I think it causes flat performance and eventual engine warning light rather than smoke and noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 If he's a trader, he's liable for repairs under SOGA (fitness for purpose). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leonard Hatred Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I think Pillock said it's a 110. SEAT and Skoda persisted with the rotary pump TDis until the mid '00s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Cheers for all the replies chaps. Yes it's a non-PD engine, as Lenny said only VW and Audi-badged cars got the PD motors to begin with, then the other makes followed. 90/110/130 are old, 105/115/140/170 are PD.Cavette, yeah I contacted the guy to be met with the predicted answer "it was OK when I had it, sold as seen". I'm not convinced he knew it was going to fail, he might have known it wasn't in the best health but it was driving fine when I took it away. I'm fairly sure it's not just sticking vanes, these do have the variable geometry turbo according to interweb forumz but the turbo sounds absolutely 100% frigged, even at idle. AA man said the same thing - garage man said the same thing. It's just one of those things. You can recreate the noise by pouring some pebbles, nuts, bolts and bits of glass into a food blender. It's now at a garage in Gainsborough, which is as far as the AA would take it. He phoned yesterday to quote me three figures - New turbo from a main dealerNew "compatible" turbo with two year warranty from turbo specialistReconditioning my unit and banging a 12 month warranty on it. At £1050, £620 and £360 (plus labour but including VAT) respectively, no prizes for guessing the method I've gone with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skattrd Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Sorry to hear about your new motor. I was going to suggest taking the turbo off yourself and getting it refurbed, theres a place in Sheffield does them for £100 as long as the casing is still ok. Refurb kits can be bought to diy for about £50ish as well, and theres guides on the interweb how to do it, it's not that difficult.. Used turbo's can be got off ebay relatively cheaply if you know what you're looking for; lots of cars use the same turbos, but with slightly different casings. I used to think turbo's were black magic and could only be played with by specialists, but as nobody would touch the one off my kei last year I had to do it myself ... I ended up making a hybrid turbo using a turbo off a corsa diesel I picked up for 99p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxobarges_Are_Us Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I know how you feel...had the near-immediate failure thing happen with a Galant a few years ago (for added bad luck, it died of HGF on my way to work on the first day in a new job!). How much did he quote you for labour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Two hours labour so I'm looking at around £450 all in, bringing the price of the car up to pretty much the same as every other 2001 Leon on the net.No point getting grumpy about it, on the grand scale of things it's third on my list of "things that have annoyed me this week" so I'm just crossing my fingers that they don't find something else majorly wrong with it, and after I shell out the money it'll be A1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Ross Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 How about you buy the part and try to fit it? You'll need to replace the oil and filter..... Essential if it's munched it's own mouth!! Unless you're a maladroit. Would you like help to do it? How close to Gainsborough are you? I could bring a shedload of tools and a compressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 I'm miles away from Gainsborough, I'm in Mansfield - Gainsborough is just the nearest town to where it died.The garage has mostly likely started to do the work now as he needed me to choose the turbo supplier Wednesday night, and they're closed till Tuesday so thanks so much for the offer Mr Ross but I'll just let it happen. Awww, bless. That offer of kindness has just made up for all the PU51DRY shit on here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VWPowered Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 our 97 passats done 500,000kms+ and just passed its ct again still on original engine/turbo, now on second gearbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrogeezer Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 If he's a trader, he's liable for repairs under SOGA (fitness for purpose). yeh, even if he's just dealing small time from home I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Ross Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I'm equidistant from Mansfield and Gainsborough, no skin off either nose! It was a thought! Let me know if you need any help at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 If he's a trader, he's liable for repairs under SOGA (fitness for purpose). yeh, even if he's just dealing small time from home I think. It'll just be harder to prove if he's trading from home unfortunately. Pillock: have you tried Googling his 'phone number? Surprising what that throws up sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 No, he's just a guy flogging his old car...... I do have a feeling he works on the same site as me though, his name rings a bell. My boss has already offered to deduct £450 from his wages for me, or more realistically he might feel unconfortable enough when I suddenly need to be in his work area many times a day to give me some money. It's a lottery though, it's a polish name and we have 1500 polish people..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 New turbo....... 120 miles later, loss of power and feels like it's running on 3 cylinders. Combined with a REALLY upsetting clonking/grinding noise, the engine lurching all over the place on the mounts, and absolutely loads of vapour out of the oil filler. AA'ed home once again. I am absolutely sick of this, the world, and everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-M Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Ooook. Hope it's not too expensive this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 That's pretty soul destroying, I couldn't even hazard a guess what's wrong with it but it doesn't sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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